Geoff Lay is very kindly traveling some distance to be joining us at our September meeting, & will speak on the Flora of Wilson’s Promontory….

Geoff has been a keen bushwalker, naturalist and photographer for over 50 years, having now collected over 40,000 images of Australia. His “humble” ambition is to photograph every plant and fungus in Australia, & after 50 years is 25% of the way there. He joined the Maroondah branch of Australian Plants Society over 30 years ago. Later joining the Field Naturalists Club of Victoria, which, has a keen fungi group. For some time he has also been fortunate enough to be a volunteer at the Royal Botanic Gardens in Melbourne.

The talk will consist mainly of beautiful pictures of Wilsons Prom taken over many years – first visiting the lighthouse in 1968. At the Prom, majestic mountains plunge directly into the ocean; the water is tinted brown, the rocks are covered in orange lichen, and there are glorious beaches everywhere. Flowers and flora clothe park, especially in spring. You will be able to see the beneficial effect of the bushfires which burnt almost the entire park in the 2000’s and cleared out the overgrowth of Tea Tree and Kunzea, and allowed great variety of flora to grow again.